//------------------------------// // Onward to the Sarrarocco Archipelago // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// Barely an hour after their little conversation with Fair Drift and the group was already ready to go. They were rushing to get things done and very excited to have a new destination in mind, and something that felt more certain and special than before. An invitation from the High Priestess of the Sarraroccon Order? Even Rainbow Dash knew this was a big deal. She knew from Breakwater’s map and what he had said that the Sarrarocco Archipelago was one of the bigger places out on the Grand Ocean. This High Priestess may have been a little suspicious, but she also clearly knew something about Merlantis, Ponyseidon, and Senax. It was better than having nothing. The ship was already fully stocked and they had everything they needed to make the trip. And plenty of money for buying whatever they might need when they came back. All that was needed now was to open the doors and have the Heart of Azure set sail once more. Ballast was a little sad to see them go again so soon but he knew adventure called. That’s why all of them were on deck, finishing up the last few checks on the ship. “Well I hope this trip turns out better than your last one,” Ballast said to them. “So do I,” Breakwater said. “So do all of us,” Daylight snorted. “I’ve got a good feeling about it,” Senax smiled. “Didn’t you also have a pretty good feeling after hearing about that trident?” Daylight asked her. “Well… this is different. The High Priestess of the Sarraroccon Order has to be a special pony, she wouldn’t just send a special invitation to us for nothing.” “It feels more legitimate than a random rumor at least,” Breakwater shrugged. “Exactly. If she was lying to us or wanted to do something bad then it’d hurt the reputation of the entire Order. I think she just wants to talk to us,” Senax said. “Talk to you, you mean.” Rainbow Dash said as she flew by. “Yeah, we were all invited, but that’s only because we’re with you. It’s totally obvious that you’re the only one that Priestess cares about—because you’re a merpony. She must know something about merponies or Ponyseidon.” “I got that feeling too,” Gilbert said. Daylight thought for a second and looked over at Breakwater. “How old is the Sarraroccon Order?” He shrugged. “Don’t ask me, I’m no historian. It’s pretty old though. I know it at least goes back to the times of the Golden Empire. Ponies from the Archipelago have told me that the ones in the Order are more than happy to talk about the fact that they existed before the Hundred Kingdoms.” “Maybe they go even further back then that then. Maybe they go all the way back to the times of Ponyseidon himself...” Daylight wondered. “That would explain why the High Priestess would care about there being a merpony sailing out through the ocean,” Senax said, she bit down on her lip in thought. “I don’t know enough about my own history to say anything for sure though… and there was definitely no mention about the Sarrarocco Archipelago or Order in the records or lessons passed down in my tribe.” “Whatever,” Rainbow Dash shrugged and flew in front of everyone else. “Like you said, this is way better than anything we’ve had to go on before. And if she’s got some sinister idea in mind? Or she can’t be trusted? Then bam! I deal with her like that and we go back to sailing like normal.” Daylight rolled her eyes. “I doubt it would go that simply if things go bad.” “The point is that Senax has nothing to worry about with me around,” Rainbow reassured her. “Hehe, thank you, Rainbow Dash,” Senax giggled. “Well anyways, whether or not the High Priestess is trustworthy or if she’s evil, it doesn’t matter until we actually get there,” Breakwater said. “So I think it’s about time we wet off for real. Ballast? How about helping us out.” “Already on it,” the shipwright said as he went over to the large wheel that would pull open the doors. “Take care out there! Again.” “I’d say you don’t have to say that but, uh, that would kind of be a lie...” Breakwater said as the doors opened. “We’ll have more cool stories when we get back!” Rainbow waved bye to him. “Now that I don’t doubt at all,” Ballast waved back. The Heart of Azure then drifted its way out the back dock of Ballast’s shop and into the open harbor. Still with many hours of daylight and time to sail left before slowing down for the night. And now instead of going east like the past few times, Breakwater turned the wheel to starboard as soon as they were out of the big shipping lanes and had his ship angle to the west. A cool breeze blew into Rainbow Dash’s face as she stood right on the tip of the bowsprit with a big smile stretched across her face. The excitement of embarking on a brand new adventure almost couldn’t be beat. She still had reservations about this High Priestess, but after talking with everyone it was clear that they weren’t just stumbling thoughtlessly into this. Everyone was just as prepared as she was. Whatever they had to go through and however long it took, Rainbow Dash had no intention of breaking her promise to Senax. She was going to help her friend find the merponies’ long lost home. They had actually stayed very close to shore so far and probably were planning to for most of the trip. After all, from what Rainbow had seen on that one map Breakwater had showed her, the entire Sarrarocco Archipelago wasn’t that far south of the Hundred Kingdoms at all. In fact its outer reaches were pretty much in viewing distance if you were on the coastline. That was why right now for the first time she was looking north at the coast of Winderbadon—the Kingdom directly west of Malkonrik. She remembered hearing the name once or twice but no one had really spoken much about it. Must be a quiet, boring, place. There was nothing special about its coast from what she could see either—it wasn’t different like Evergarden’s. In fact both it and the port were pretty much exactly like Malkonrik’s so far, with a large number of ships either docked there or sailing close by. Rainbow Dash still wished they could hurry up and sail faster until they got somewhere more interesting. The only other Kingdom she knew about to the west—or at least the only one she remembered—was Alth-Verika. And she only remembered that because it was known for alcohol and the Sarrarocco Archipelago was directly south of it. A small part… a large part of her wanted to ask Breakwater and the others if they could stop there. Not for long, just a day or two to have a little fun, sample a bit of the local culture, but she knew not only would they refuse but they really had something more pressing to get to right now anyways. One day she’d get there. Maybe. It was probably a bad idea to for a multitude of reasons at the moment. “Enjoying the view up here?” Gilbert asked her. Rainbow Dash blinked and looked to her side to see Gilbert flying alongside the crow’s nest. “It’s alright. What about you?” “I’m having a decent time just flying around,” he shrugged. “You excited to go to the Archipelago? It’ll be your first time there too.” “Very much so. New place, all new culture, it sounds like a very interesting place to see. If anything else I’m happy for Senax.” “Yeah I’m with you on that one. And yeah, from how that Fair Drift guy was I think the ponies at the Archipelago are going to be pretty interesting.” She took a deep breath and raised an eyebrow at him. “You just come up to ask me about the view?” “No—want a muffin?” Gilbert said as he pulled out a blueberry muffin. “Oh. Yeah, sure, I could go for a muffin right now.” He tossed it to her and Rainbow Dash caught it, taking a bite out of the muffin immediately and chewing it up. “Not bad.” “Things like that are going to go bad pretty quickly, figured we might as well eat them while we can.” “Yeah not everything keeps as good as hardtack or your dried out meat, eugh.” “You could always try it too...” “Gilbert, don’t make me throw up when I’m trying to eat.” “Sorry.” Rainbow Dash quickly finished the muffin and took another brief look at the coast of Winderbadon before shooting a glance over at Gilbert. “Up for a race now? Nothing better to do.” Gilbert chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. “I suppose I’m up for losing another race.” “Oh come on, you’ll never win with that attitude,” Rainbow grinned. As they flew off, they were watched from below by the others. Daylight Gleam shook her head in amusement and walked up to the helm where Breakwater and Senax were. The Heart of Azure was making good progress, with both the current and the wind on its side for the moment. That was one positive thing she could think about when it came to their various trips, they hardly had to work against that. “So how many days is it before we actually get to the Archipelago?” She asked Breakwater. “Just a few. It shouldn’t take as long as it did to get to the Wandering Island actually,” he answered. “That’s good. I wouldn’t want to keep the High Priestess waiting.” Senax shot her a questioning look. “Are you still suspicious of her and the Sarraroccon Order?” “Of course. Even if I’m wrong I’m still going to stay suspicious just in case. That’s how we survive out here. Unfortunately we can’t just believe in the good will of everyone—especially after knowing she’s been spying on us.” “That’s a little concerning but I’ve still never really heard anything bad about the Order,” Breakwater said. “And they’ve never had a merpony around yet,” Daylight said. “We still don’t know exactly why Senax is such a big deal to the High Priestess, so until we do we’re going to be careful.” “Yeah, good point. We don’t want anything to happen to Senax after all,” he smiled at the merpony. “You all don’t need to be that considerate of me. I don’t want you worrying for nothing,” Senax said. “Especially if it ends up with any of you getting hurt.” “Well don’t worry about that—Rainbow Dash will always come out on top. Or at least that’s what she says,” Daylight smirked. Senax giggled. “True. I promise not to be pessimistic about it.” “Now if only Daylight could promise the same thing...” Breakwater mumbled. “What was that?” Daylight frowned at him. “Nothing.” The sound of something whistling through the wind got their attention and they looked up to see Rainbow Dash and Gilbert swiftly returning from their race. The pegasus looked the same as always while the lithe griffon was breathing and panting heavily. It was pretty obvious to tell who had won the race again. As the two of them landed, Gilbert practically slumped over while Rainbow Dash helped him stay up. “Did you two have fun?” Daylight asked from the helm. “Yep!” Rainbow answered immediately. “Gilbert did a lot better than normal too.” The griffon was panting too hard to speak, but he gave the others a thumb’s up. Daylight snorted in amusement. “Well if you want some water there’s plenty down below to drink. Going to be racing some more before we get to the Archipelago?” “Maybe instead of a flying race with Gilbert you can try a swimming race against me?” Senax enthusiastically asked Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash grinned awkwardly. “Pretty sure I know how that’s gonna go but… alright, sure. I’m not going to refuse a race.” “You’ll need to find something to occupy yourself with while we’re out here. It’s not a long trip but we’ll still be sailing for a few more days,” Breakwater said. “Great. Not like I didn’t know that already...” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Whatever, got races to race, boardgames to play, deck of cards, I can even go fishing again if I feel like it. Or just spend all day taking a nap—not like I haven’t earned it. Might even need the rest in case things get dicey at our next stop. Speaking of that I should get back to toughening up some more...” “Gonna go lift crates and barrels again?” Daylight asked her. Rainbow shrugged. “Maybe. Unless you want to fight and hoof-wrestle to help me out instead.” “No thank you,” Daylight grimaced. “Then for the moment… for the moment I would like to get some water, if we’re all done up here,” Gilbert wheezed and walked himself down to the hold. Rainbow Dash got a devilish look in her eye as she watched him go. “Hey, Gilbert? How about you help with my strength-training too?” “I… I sadly must refuse...” the exhausted griffon looked nearly frightened at the thought. “You get some water too, Rainbow Dash,” Senax winked at her. “I don’t want to put off our race for too long.” “Yeah… I’ll be right back up,” Rainbow said as she went to follow Gilbert down. "Someone’s afraid to lose~” Daylight couldn’t help but tease the boastful pegasus. Rainbow glared at her. “I said I’ll be right back up.”